RIO GRANDE COUNTY— Rio Grande County Commissioners recently hired two new managers to help oversee operations at the county airport. Commissioners welcomed co-managers Jim Leist and Jay Sarason earlier in the month and they wasted no time getting started on the work ahead. Up until now, the Rio Grande County Road and Bridge Department maintained the airport with the help of nearby neighbors, the McCallister family. “Both Patrick Sullivan and Don [McCallister] provided a wonderful service to the pilots coming in and did a great job. We will take it from here,” said Sarason.
Commissioners discussed hiring for the airport manager position over the course of several months, ultimately deciding that there was enough work to be done by two part-time managers. Both Leist and Sarason are now employees for the county and are paid through county funding. “The county pays for our services, but it is our job to find grants to help with projects and operational costs in order to make the airport as small of a burden on the community of Del Norte as possible,” continued Sarason.
The airport is a general aviation location and hosts private flights as well as medical emergency flights. Eagle Air Medical is one of the main flights that come to the area and transport medical patients under both emergency and basic medical needs. “We want people who need to leave the Valley for medical reasons to be able to do so, even if it is not an emergency,” said Sarason.
It began with a single path runway that had an uphill runway that intimidated pilots coming from lower elevations. “People wouldn’t land here because they were afraid of the runway. So, we changed that,” stated Sarason. He continued to explain that the runway was changed to a paved 6,000 foot, lighted runway that is much more user-friendly. “We want to be a benefit to the community by making this airport a kind of friendly rest stop for pilots on their way through.”
The airport is also home to an Automatic Weather Station (AWS). This device is very useful to pilots coming to the area during adverse weather conditions. The feed provided by the AWS allows pilots to access weather conditions 24 hours a day from an online database which shows what the weather is like on the ground. “The AWS allows us to help land flights during bad weather no matter what is happening,” said Sarason.
The airport is also a fueling location for many of the area’s flights as they head over the San Juan Mountains to places like Durango and beyond. “We want people to make this a destination on their longer trips,” stated Sarason.
Currently, the airport is under construction for two additional hangars that should be finished by the end of summer. Sarason explained that their future goals for the airport include boosting their recreational opportunities by bringing pilots to the area for pleasure. “Del Norte has so much to offer people. We just need to get the word out and get them to come here to stay,” continued Sarason.
Sarason and Leist want to make the airport a safe and friendly place where people can come enjoy the quality of life and recreational opportunities that are available in the area. “We also want to come up with some kind of on the ground transportation for pilots who want to go into town for lunch or stay for the weekend,” stated Sarason.
“Our main goal is to benefit the community. We want to do all of this with the least amount of financial responsibility to the county. Jim is going to seek funding and handle the administrative part of the airport while I handle the operational parts. Even though we have lots of plans, we want to do this right,” finished Sarason.